The Cookies, Then the Cake
by HersheyChocolates101
Summary: Maya, after several frustrating attempts, asks Chase for assistance in baking a dessert for Mothers' Day. Oneshot; slight Maya/Chase/Angela. Well, I feel that way, at least.


"Oh no! Not again!" whimpered an upset and frustrated Maya as she dumped the burnt cookies into the trash again. It had been her fifth try to make cookies for a Mothers' Day gift. Unfortunately Maya was not a good cook, despite all of her grandmother's tutoring.

"Hi Maya- hey, what's that smell?" a voice said. The owner walked into the inn, waving her hand around as an attempt to make her way through a thick cloud of black smoke.

Immediately, Maya began to bustle around the kitchen, hoping that her entering friend would not notice the mess. Unfortunately, she was too slow and a brunette walked in.

"…Maya, what's going on? Hey, why are you crying?"

"Angela! I just can't cook!" cried Maya angrily. She threw her arms up in the air in defeat. "Argh, I give up! I'll never become a good chef like Chase!"

Angela nervously glanced around the room, and then awkwardly patted Maya's shoulder. "Don't say that. You just need practice," she said softly, not knowing what to make of the situation. Suddenly, the door to the inn opened again and another person walked in.

He coughed a little before speaking. "What happened?"

Maya's eyes widened; she hadn't counted on _Chase_ showing up. "Oh no," she whispered frantically to Angela. "C'mon, help me clean before the smoke clears up! Please!"

Without any hesitation Angela snatched a broom leaning against the wall nearby and began to wildly sweep away spilled flour, baking soda, sugar, and burnt cookie crumbs while Maya wiped the granite countertop clean. She could hear Chase's footsteps nearing the kitchen and was about to put away the eggs when something slipped under her foot.

"Maya watch out!" Angela whisper shouted but it was too late.

Before her mind could comprehend anything, Maya was on the floor, her entire dress soaked in eggs. Angela gasped and hurried out of the kitchen, in hope of keeping Chase _out._

"H-hi, Chase! W-What's up?" she asked anxiously, fiddling with her thumbs and not really making very proper eye contact with the violet eyed Chase. Unluckily, he wasn't going to buy the act.

"…Angela what are you doing in the kitchen? And why is Maya on the floor? Were you two cooking?" he asked, craning his neck. He was able to get a full view of Maya, who was curled up into a little ball, struggling to hide her tearstained and flour dusted face.

"Well…" Angela really didn't know how to put the circumstances into words. Chase was known to nearly hate Maya, but he _could_ be pleasant…at least sometimes.

"Angela, I'd very much appreciate an answer you know," Chase said impatiently, crossing his arms and tapping his right foot steadily.

"…Well, Chase, please don't get mad. Maya wanted to bake cookies for her Mothers' Day present and you know…" she trailed off, looking sheepishly at the ground.

Chase's eyebrows creased momentarily when Angela mentioned Mothers' Day but the look disappeared and was replaced by a smile. "If Maya needed help, she could have easily just asked me."

Maya looked up from between her knees at Chase with a look of surprise. "R-Really?"

"Sure! Let's just get this mess cleared up before Colleen and Yolanda-"

"We're home!"

"…Oh God…" Chase murmured below his breath. "We're doomed unless- Angela! Get them out of here!"

Angela confusedly staggered towards the women, blocking their view of the kitchen mess and created one of the sweetest yet fake looking smiles she could muster. "Oh, good afternoon, Yolanda. Colleen. Chase is baking a cake for you and we need all of the ingredients. He asked if you two could go fetch them."

And Yolanda, being the ever so gullible woman she was, smiled. "Oh honey, that's wonderful! Of course we will!" And as quickly as they had come, they were gone.

"Why'd, out of ALL things did you say that I'm baking a cake? Now I really do have to make one and fit all of the ingredients in the fridge!" Chase snapped.

"Either you make the darn cake or we're in big trouble! Now help us before they're back!" Angela answered sharply. She pulled Maya off of her feet and began to sweep the floor. Chase and Maya hurriedly started the tiring process of washing the dishes, and Chase kept out the ones required for the cake baking out on the counter. With lots of teamwork (and some hastiness) the trio had the kitchen sparkling once again, just like before. Angela lazily flopped into a dining chair nearby, as did Chase and Maya.

"Never…again…will I ever try cooking by…myself…" Maya muttered under her breath, truly meaning what she said. Chase raised an eyebrow.

"But you always say that you want to become a good of a chef as me," he said, giving Maya a suspicious look. "Why change your mind so suddenly?"

Maya frowned. "Chase, do I really need to spell it out for you?"

"Yes."

"I-"

"We're home again!"

"Darn it…How'd they get here so fast…?"

"Hi, Colleen and Yolanda. I see you've brought the ingredients. That's great! Now Chase, get your lazy behind off that chair and bake us a cake!" Angela said cheerfully, shoving Chase along with all of the groceries into the kitchen. Colleen and Yolanda smiled pleasantly and left the room, leaving Chase, Maya, and Angela alone again.

Chase began to unpack the groceries, grunting to himself about having to squish everything in the refrigerator.

"So, Maya, what was going to be your answer?" Chase asked, not looking at Maya. He paused in the midst of his task to look at the now pouting strawberry blonde.

"I'm not a good cook," Maya said, barely in a whisper. Angela frowned.

"Chase why are you bothering her? Just make the cake already!" she cracked.

"But I'm making it so she can give it to her mom. I ought to be able to get _something_ in return," he answered with a slim smirk on his typically gloomy face. It lit up his features quite notably with a glint Maya couldn't put her finger on.

"MAKE THE CAKE!"

"Alright, alright!" Chase answered exasperatedly and he finally shut up to leave poor Maya in serenity. _Finally…_ thought the girl. She sighed mutely, giving Angela a glance of gratitude. Angela smiled in return, waving it off.

"You know," she began with a grin, "Isn't it usually that Chase gets annoyed with Maya? Today it seems to be vice versa! Ah, young love…"

Both Chase and Maya blushed slightly, giving Angela a defiant look, which made the brunette farmer crack up and laugh so hard that tears began to form themselves at the corners of her chocolate brown eyes. She finally (after at least five or six minutes) collected herself and wiped a stray tear from her eye before smiling widely at the other two occupants of the room.

"Man! That's the hardest I've ever laughed in a long time…"

"Angie, I know I'm gonna sound mean but shut up," Maya said, and Angela almost broke out into fits of laughter again.

"Ha-ha, okay, Maya," she answered and then brought her attention to Chase, who was engaged deeply in getting the last bits of cake batter into a pan. Satisfied with his work, he slipped the pan into the preheated oven and started the tormenting process of clean up.

"Help me, please."

"Okay!" both girls chorused at the same time gladly and bounced up from their seats to assist the chef.

…

And soon enough, two small, vanilla frosted cakes were proudly set on a dining table, along with fancy decorations Angela found while snooping around.

"I kinda wanted cookies, but it'll do," said Maya, checking around for any last-minute imperfections left on the arrangement. It had been at least her hundredth time ensuring excellence and now Angela had been getting sick of it.

"Oh, Maya, it's fine! Relax already!" she ordered and dragged Maya away from the table. "Trust me, if there was something else wrong, we'd faint!"

"Yeah, especially with the insane number of times you've looked at that thing," Chase added. "Hey don't I get credit for any of this?"

Angela laughed. "I guess we do owe you the biggest thanks!" She tugged Maya by the hand, and together, both girls tackled Chase into a death hug.

"Thanks Chase!" they cried out in unison. Chase staggered backwards a few steps and grabbed an imaginary pole for support.

"Okay, now don't kill me!" he chuckled. "I was kinda happy to cook, anyways."

**A/N: LOL this was…random. It was super fun to write and I couldn't help but squeeze in the faint ChasexMaya chemistry here and there. :D Be on the look out for another Maya centric oneshot- this time it will be with Kasey. Ooh. Ha, ha I hoped you enjoyed this! Thank you so much for reading!**


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